If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: The team needs to quickly discover the truth behind a young college student’s unexplained injuries before his condition worsens; after losing a prized possession, Shaun’s distraction during a surgical procedure may risk more than his his job. (IMDB)
Writers: David Shore and Lloyd Gilyard Jr.
Director: Mike Listo
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 41mins
Airs: Mondays at 10pm on CTV (Canada)/ABC (United States)
It’s only fitting that the last episode of the season is the best episode so far.
The last episode ended with Glassman in a compromising position and this episode didn’t waste any time, starting with Glassman telling Murphy that he had an inoperable tumor pressing against his brain and that he was dying. Glassman seemed to accept his diagnosis, being a brain surgeon himself. Murphy was not as accepting and was determined to find a solution despite Glassman’s wishes otherwise.
Meanwhile, the case of the week involved a young college student named Caden Hauley (Donnie MacNeil). What started innocently enough kept getting worse and worse as they uncovered more and more about how he got sick in the first place. Being a college student, he was a pledge at a fraternity and being a pledge at a fraternity meant that he did plenty of stupid things and it was these things that led to his sickness.
Murphy still had to work on Hauley’s case but he couldn’t stop thinking about Glassman and his missing toy scalpel. Park and Kalu played good cop bad cop with Hauley’s friend Blake (Graham Patrick Martin) who brought him to the hospital and learned that Hauley ate laundry detergent pods. While performing surgery, Melendez was called elsewhere so Murphy was given lead, however, Hauley got worse afterwards.
Needing help to get Glassman to listen to him, Murphy shared Glassman’s condition with Preston. Another cause for Hauley’s worsening condition could have been surgeon error but no one, except for Reznick who noticed how distracted he looked, believed that Murphy would have made a mistake. Melendez consulted Glassman for help with Murphy and he revealed that he was dying.
Not wanting to consider surgeon error, the next possible cause was drugs. Preston didn’t want Glassman to stop fighting and get more imaging of his tumor. Sensing blood in the water, Andrews was looking to take advantage of the situation and take down Murphy which would take down Glassman. Upon further analysis, Glassman’s diagnosis worsened. Murphy still wasn’t willing to give up on Glassman who wanted him to stop. This led to a heated exchange between the two. Glassman wanted to have fun and didn’t want to think about his condition and dying. While on a carousel with Murphy, Glassman shared a story about his deceased young daughter, triggering a nice flashback of them at a dance.
After ruling out other causes, the only plausible one appeared to be surgeon error by Murphy. While going over his actions during the surgery, Murphy realized he had a mistake. He then told a lie as an excuse to go back to Glassman. He didn’t want to waste the little time he had left but Murphy found a way to safely biopsy his tumor. Murphy did not want him to die.
While he was away, the other doctors discussed what to do about Murphy. They had a duty to report him but there was a different set of circumstances for him. Kalu offered to take the hit. Melendez believed that whatever happened, they would deal with it together. Murphy discovered a potential solution for Hauley, albeit a risky one that could kill him. He offered to perform it and take the fall for Melendez though in a moment of acceptance, they performed it together and were successful. Before the team left to celebrate, Melendez took a moment to chastise Reznick for her behavior against Murphy.
When Murphy checked back with Glassman, he told him that he did the biopsy and learned that his tumor was treatable but it wouldn’t be easy as he would have to undergo brain surgery and chemotherapy. They shared an embrace and Murphy was relieved. Murphy wanted to report his mistake to Andrews, however, Preston and Glassman warned against it. Ultimately, it was his decision and Glassman trusted his judgement.
The episode ended with Murphy and Glassman visiting Andrews’ office.
Overall, this was an amazing episode with one of the best cases this season which was tied to the main plot which was Glassman’s condition and its effect on Murphy. Their relationship has been one of the best things about the entire series, besides Murphy himself, and this episode served a showcase of Freddie Highmore and Richard Schiff and their great chemistry. Both gave excellent and emotional performances in different yet in equally powerful ways. This was also when the original team coming together with Melendez, Browne, and Kalu standing by Murphy. Glassman will live, but based on the cliffhanger, either he and/or Murphy may not survive at the hospital. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens next season.
Score: 10/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.